Fiery Nights Read Online Free Page A

some psycho stalker
because I can’t wait to go back and see him again. As if he’d even remember me.
Just another visitor to the club. Obviously I need to get a grip.
    So I hope things are great with you and we’ll see each
other again soon. Any idea when you’re coming home?
    Are you coming home?
     
    Your utterly mature friend,
    Maya
     
    I signed out of my e-mail and went to bed. I crawled under
my comforter and tried not to think of him.
    As I drifted off to sleep, I saw his eyes. Those dark
haunted eyes that were imprinted on me. Would I ever forget them?
     
    Tristan
    None of my books answered any of the questions about Maya’s
light. So I drove to Salem to have lunch with someone who might—my mother.
    We sat down in her dining area with large windows showing
off her gardens. Although it was early November in New England and the flowers
were gone, Mother ensured she would have the most of her gardens for as much of
the year as she could. She called the garden her incomplete canvas, one that
she’d redesign throughout the seasons. Brilliant reds of Japanese maples and
other perennials now dominated the landscape.
    We discussed family matters over light sandwiches that
Charlotte brought out. Mother had hired Charlotte in recent months to help her
around the house, saying it was too much for her to take care of on her own
anymore. Charlotte had lost her husband months before and looked for a job to
keep her mind focused on something besides mourning.
    Following the meal, Charlotte brought us tea. Tea was a
daily ritual in my parents’ house. Mother used it as her salve for all life’s
matters, her quiet meditation throughout the madness of any day.
    “Tristan, something is troubling you. I could sense it since
you came in.”
    I desperately wanted to tell her about Maya, but didn’t know
where to begin. “Yes, Mother. Something is on my mind. Something I don’t
understand.”
    “What is it?” she asked and took a sip of tea.
    “It’s a woman.”
    My mother leaned forward, smiling. She’d wanted me to settle
down and get married for ages, so any mention of a female had her imagination
spiraling. But with my ability, whatever it was, I wasn’t a good companion for
another person.
    “Go on,” she encouraged.
    “She came into my club the other night. There was something
about her that I’ve never seen before.”
    “What?”
    “She was surrounded by a soft white light. Where all I saw
around other people were the usual darkness and shadows, she projected
this—glow.”
    Mother looked me in the eyes for several long moments. I looked
down at my tea, which was still untouched.
    “Interesting,” Mother said. “What happened to the darkness?”
    I tried to remember. “I’m not sure exactly. I don’t know if
it was still there. I was so focused on her that I didn’t notice.”
    “Next time you see her pay attention to what happens.”
    “I don’t know if I’ll see her again.”
    “But Tristan,” she said touching my hand, “you must.”
    “Why?”
    “Obviously something special happened between you two. And
considering your gift.”
    “Curse,” I corrected.
    She ignored my correction.
    “It means something. It’s something worth pursuing.”
    “What do you think it is?”
    “I don’t know,” she said. “Drink your tea and I’ll read the
leaves. Maybe we’ll find some insight there.”
    We drank our tea in silence, caught up in our thoughts. I thought
of Maya the whole time. I tipped the cup upside down when I was done so the
leaves could slide down the china, leaving a trail as they descended. My mother
looked upon these markings as foretelling the future. I’d known her for too
long to question her methods.
    “While we wait, let’s do a reading,” she said.
    “Not a full one,” I said. “Just one card.” She shuffled the
cards skillfully as she’d done this hundreds of times. “I wish my gift was
similar to yours—how nice must it be to tell people their good